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By turns elegiac and celebratory, this documentary tribute to the late, great Canadian poet Al Purdy features readings, reminiscences and performances from some of the greatest names in Canadian letters and music.

The title is poker slang referring to cheating, but here’s a more appropriate card term for this lacklustre Toronto-made drama: dead hand.

Zack Bernbaum’s feature bow deals the tropes of the gambling genre — from desperate hustler to ruthless shark — but it’s not much of a game or film.

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Compulsive player Bobby Locke (Stéfano Gallo) needs cash to pay the medical bills of his stricken mom (Kate Trotter). He gets mentoring from a paternal club owner (Paul Sorvino), but Bobby and his pal Ben (Kjartan Hewitt) plan a bigger score: knocking over the high-dollar game of the Turk (Robert Knepper), a vengeful and brutal man.

A suspense-free script co-written by Gallo with Jason Lapeyre contributes to the feeling that we’ve seen all these cards before.

Peter Howell

Al Purdy Was Here

Al Purdy Was Here was directed by former Maclean's film critic Brian D. Johnson. (TIFF)

Brian D. Johnson makes a strong transformation from Maclean’s film critic to documentary director with this engaging account of the late Al Purdy, the colourful rebel poet who became a CanLit star. A major part of the saga includes the building of his house, the A Frame, while this warts-and-all bio goes back to when writing poetry was a major factor in building identity and Canadian culture awareness. And there’s a stunning surprise near the end. Performances by Bruce Cockburn, Tanya Tagaq and Sarah Harmer, as well as insights from Margaret Atwood, Michael Ondaatje, Leonard Cohen and Purdy’s widow, Eurithe Purdy.

It’s pure pleasure to watch Deborah Hay and Colin Mochrie (with an able assist from Tedde Moore) in this low-budget bittersweet Toronto-shot dramedy about a woman on the edge. Teresa (Hay) has an anniversary dinner party to plan, even though her husband went for a run on their last anniversary — and never returned. She knows he’s out there somewhere, refusing to give up hope he’ll come home, as much as Carl (Mochrie) and others wish she would. Is she an optimist, loyal wife, or delusional? Writer-director Valerie Buhagiar takes her time letting the story unfold, pulling fantasy and emotion into the mix. The solid soundtrack is from Mary Margaret O’Hara, Stephen Joffe (who plays son Nicky) and Richard Feren.

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